


Vere Initium

by alumort



Category: Naruto
Genre: Energetic Forest/Bosque Energético- Argentina, Fantasy + Coffee Shop AU, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25061212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alumort/pseuds/alumort
Summary: One day, Neji discovers that humanoid creatures change the color of their cheeks to show embarrassment.Another day, Lee tries to make Neji blush, refusing to believe dryads do not do that.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy, Hyuuga Neji/Rock Lee
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank Skuun deeply because, thanks to them, I got hyped in finishing this on time. They helped me with the title and worldbuilding, and getting hype in not dropping it hehe.
> 
> This happens in an Argentinian forest that's, to put it simply, magical. The Energetic Forest, found near the seaside city called Miramar... It's awesome. I went there and the air is so, so fresh- I have allergies and there I could actually smell. It's awesome.  
> I found an article in English- short, but it's something. If you type in Google 'Energetic Forest Miramar' you'll find countless more, but here's the link to the one that's short:
> 
> https://thefuddhist.com/energetic-forest/

It was a calm morning. The wind was a bit strong, but the sound of the rustling leaves of the trees were relaxing to him. Something obvious; trees were a dryad's home. That they allowed some werewolves to build an edifice in their dense forest wouldn't change that. How they managed to do that, Neji didn't know. Political stuff his uncle thought was convenient, probably. Something about they being hidden in bark and branches, about needing to socialize; and that's how he ended up as a spy of the werewolves. To confirm they never took more grains and fruit than enough, that they didn't ruin anything. Or _peed_ in the roots of any Home Tree... full moon made them act like real dogs, and Neji had to take care of them.

The dryad still couldn't figure out how a coffee shop was going to be helpful, but he enjoyed the warmth of being inside the building made with plants. He liked when Lee showed him urban stuff, like a phone or a bell. ( _Neji liked bells. He saved the one the youngest werewolf gave him, in a cabinet they made for him. It was hilarious how they reached to the conclusion that the wood used was someone from his family, when it was_ **_obvious_ ** _it wasn't from a Home Tree_ ).

The coffee shop was a nice combination of modern and rural, Kakashi had said when he saw him playing a game on a screen. The leaves that fell from the roof-trees were very soft, and the crunchy sound they made as you stepped on them was relaxing.

Now, there were only two clients in the shop, a young kitsune and the only human that was allowed in the forest, his friend. They had already ordered and been served so the dryad was relaxing in the counter, playing with the end of one of his vines while side-eyeing the strange red haired boy.

"Good morning, Neji", Lee said, coming from upstairs while suppressing a yawn. His face still had some black fur fur; the only clue of the full moon that shone the previous night. Neji sighed, cleaning his chin with a napkin. "Huh, thanks!"

"You're welcome", the vine-haired person replied, looking at the werewolf. "You have to remember to clean after you return to your human form."

Lee laughed awkwardly, scratching his bowl cut. His cheeks had a pinkish tone, his gaze on the ground; the dryad had seen him do that before, but couldn't understand why the color of his skin changed. He shifted into a wolf, not into a chameleon. Unless he was half chameleon, too... but that didn't make sense. 

"Why are your cheeks red, Lee?", Neji asked, tilting his head to the side. 

"I'm not blushing!", the boy protested, covering his face with his hands. The deep laugh of one of his fathers was heard from the kitchen; probably Kakashi, as he had better hearing out of the three. 

"You are redder now."

"I'm not embarrassed!", Lee claimed, denying with his head. He still hide behind his scarred hands.

"I never said anything about embarrassment", the dryad teased, smirking. "Is that why you're red? Do I make you _uncomfortable_?"

"What? No...", the werewolf muttered, seeming small now. "You're my friend, you don't make me uncomfortable, Neji!"

"Well, how could I know? Dryads don't do... the blush, Lee. We don't change our skin color when we're feeling shy."

Lee looked at him with wide eyes, shyness forgotten, getting close to him. A bit to close for the dryad, but his breathing was refreshing and he didn't really want to push him away. For his vines' sake.

"What do you mean? How can you _not blush?",_ the black haired boy asked, curious dark green eyes observing Neji's face. He placed a finger in his nose, and that's when the shorter person finally separated himself from the werewolf. "You have _skin_!"

"It's probably because of blood, which I don't have."

"What?! How can you not have blood, Neji!? Wouldn't that kill you...?"

"I can be counted as a plant in _books_ , Lee", the dryad explained, shrugging. "I have chlorophyll."

"Maybe that's why your skin is so soft", Lee muttered, a hand in his chin. "Is that why you like to go to the clearing so much? Photosynthesis?"

"It's where the sunlight isn't covered by the treetops, so yes. My vines and Home Tree are healthy because of that."

"Oh, uh. How does that work? In the fables, dryads can't-". Neji let out an annoyed sigh, making his companion stop whatever he was going to say.

"Fables are made by the humans that can't enter this forest...", he whispered, observing how the kitsune's friend had a small odd-shaped thing with a lavender plant, recently taken from the ground. He frowned at him. "They're lies, and you shouldn't trust absolutely _anything_ of what those failed explorers say."

"It's true that you're not a girl, so...". Neji frowned at him at this, crossing his arms over his chest. "I-I mean. They say all dryads are girls, and you DO happen to have long vines... it's easy to get confused, you know?"

"I don't."

"Oh... um..."

Lee looked uncomfortable now, trying to explain something but not finding the correct words. Neji just sighed and went to attend another client that entered, knowing that they wouldn't be able to continue their conversation now; the client was an elf, who came regularly after long hours of exploring the mines. She always came up with the strangest of the crystals- and when she didn't got any, she gave handmade weapons as payment.

She was also very interested in socializing. Usually Lee would give her rainfruit juice with sesame cookies, and apparently they became friends after sharing travelling anecdotes. Neji did not know how to prepare rainfruit juice, but the young werewolf was eager to teach him as soon as he realized the elf was the one waiting - her name was related to numbers, but the dryad couldn't think much of it now. Elves were _nerds_ , and that was the only explanation his mind came up with as he tried to find how she was called( _Spoiler, he couldn't remember. He would ask someone later_ ). 

The dryad didn't really care about all this _'Coffee of Youth'_ thing, he was just there because his uncle forced him to. But he had won the werewolves trust already, and it wasn't tactical to just go away, even if he sometimes just wanted to curl up inside his Home Tree and never return.

~

Some days went by without anything interesting happening. A witch played with her apprentices and her slugs, the kitsune family spent a noon there. Kakashi apparently was friends with the older blond; maybe that was how they were really allowed to get in the forest. Minato probably convinced his uncle of letting them in… no, it was a certain fact. Even dryads feared the Yellow Flash of the forest.

Anyways. Neji totally didn't catch that up by spying. He just heard their conversation when he was serving lettuce to the witch and her companions, not interested in saving information for his uncle. ( _Which, he probably had to share some useless stuff, like the amount of shoes they had. Hiashi gets mad if he doesn't find anything in the span of two weeks_ ).

After leaving the vegetables in the table, he felt someone trying to sneak up behind him. The person would've succeed if he hadn't blocked the sunlight that filtered through the branches of the roof.

"Neji! Let's go for a walk!", the sneaky person said, a smile in his lips that partially showed his fangs. "I want to see the forest better! And if you guide me, I won't get lost! We can place a branch in the ground and see another one spin, like the books said they do here!!"

"Lee. You can't get lost, you can go and do that _childish_ thing alone", Neji protested, dodging his hug to put a dirty plate on the counter. He wasn't able to dodge for long. "You're a werewolf. Just shift into a wolf if you miss the path, you have good smelling sense."

"It's not that easy, Neji!", Lee argued, pouting. "I can't control what I do when I shift! I'm still too young for that... And! What about the fae? They will take me away!"

"Fae live in the southern part of the forest, not here", the dryad informed his companion, looking at him with his purple eyes. "You can go alone. Nothing will eat you out there... if you stay close enough."

His words seemed to make the contrary effect of what Neji wanted, based in how fear replaced the joy that the werewolf had before. Lee held him closer.

"I'm scared now. How close is _close enough_ ? I can't know if you don't come with meee...", the black haired boy asked again, using the puppy eyes _™_. Neji still wasn't strong enough to fight the puppy eyes, sighing and giving up.

"Okay, okay. I'll show you. And we can do the branch thing. Are you sure your dads will be fine?"

He sometimes forgot that they were a werewolf family, a small pack. That they had good hearing even in their human form. So, seeing Gai just appear( _he probably had been there all the time, the dryad was just distracted by Lee_ ) out of sudden, grinning, still managed to surprise him.

"Don't worry about us, we've got all under control!", the man exclaimed, giving them a thumbs up. "Have fun!"

Lee gulped visibly, getting out of the shop before Neji while looking at his shoes. The dryad didn't ask the reason for that, deciding it wasn't necessary. At least not for now.

His companion waited for him, looking at the trees with interest. Neji failed at obtaining his attention, so he grabbed his hand instead... Resulting in an instant blush.

"I'll show you where it's safe for you to go alone", the person with vines as hair exclaimed, not commenting about the warmth of the boy's skin. "So you can go alone, and not be eaten."

"O-okay", Lee muttered, looking at his fingers. He shyly entwined them, and Neji just sighed in response, pulling his arm to start walking.

"It'll be a while before the others let you roam freely", he informed the werewolf, not looking at him. "But if you come often, they'll be less annoyed than if you don't come a lot."

The rest of the short travel was quiet. To anyone from the outside, all the trees seemed the same; various type of pines, and eucalyptuses... while it was true that they all had branches and roots, their shapes were different, a natural path lined by fallen leaves. The air slowly became more humid, the grass thinner, as they were close to a water body; a lake, with its borders covered in cattails. Near it, they saw a satyr chatting with a nymph and a sphynx, who didn't even spare them a glance as they talked about something in the forest tongue.

"If you go to the other side of the lake, you'll be eaten by a basilisk. Or harpy", Neji told his companion, sitting with his feet submerged in the water. It was refreshing for him, and he could feel his vines becoming lighter. "And I can't accompany you farther from here. It's better if you don't go."

Lee kept quiet for a moment, before inhaling deeply. He stared at the dryad with intensity.

"I've had a question for a while. Can I go and see your... Home Tree, Neji?", Lee asked him, sitting in top of a plain boulder. The dryad tensed. "You're always saying Home Tree _this_ , Home Tree _that_. If it's important for you, I want to see why."

"That's- Lee, you can't just come and ask me that!", Neji exclaimed, closing his eyes. He could feel a weight appearing in the end of his vines, the lightness from before now erased, but he decided to ignore it. "That's something private. And we're not even a _couple_ , why would you ask something like that?"

"A C-COUPLE? WHAT!?", the werewolf shouted, looking at the ground. The small friend group near the lake were staring at them now. "I..."

"Yeah, you uh. I think you figured out what you accidentally asked me..."

Neji waited for an answer before continuing. Which he didn't get, as his companion went completely silent after that. He opened his eyes to look at Lee, expecting to see him blushing over a rock... Instead, a small black puppy was sitting where the boy had been before. It's fur looked cubical, and it barked for attention once Neji observed it.

The dryad could see Lee's clothes on the ground, though the dog didn't care about that and went to sit on his right foot. Neji sighed and picked it up, obtaining excited licks in his face in response.

"You got so nervous that you shifted", Neji realized, a short laugh escaping from his mouth after saying that. The puppy barked again, waving its tail. "That's... dumb, Lee. It was a cultural mistake, you couldn't know. Why did you got so nervous, hmm?"

The pup tilted his head to a side, but kept quiet as he relaxed in the dryad's hands. Neji sighed, holding him closer to his chest so he wouldn't fall as he returned to the coffee shop, hearing the high pitched laugh of the nymph as he dodged Lee's fangs, with his vines falling on his fluffy head. Neji noticed he simply wanted to play when he actually bit him, but the werewolf wasn't going to understand anything even if he tried to scold him.

And he had a sad puppy face. He could not get mad at his puppy eyes... Pup Lee was smart as hell, he purposely used that as a defense. The wolf cub knew Neji couldn't say no to that expression. But he wasn't going to let him chew on his vines more than he already did.

When he got back to the coffee shop, nobody questioned why there was a dog on his arms, or the clothes he carried under the creature. Gai smiled at the situation, and the dryad didn't know what to interpret out of that... he tried to leave Lee in his papa's arms, but he started to whine and scratch his hands.

"Aw, he's comfortable with you", Kakashi noted, his mask hiding his expression. His voice revealed his amusement even if half of his face was hidden. "He's smart, he'll find his way to your arms again. Wait until he falls asleep."

"If you say so, Sir", Neji whispered, holding his small companion close to his chest again, having his chin licked as a response. He frowned at the pup, who waved his tail excitedly without any worry in the world. 

The vine haired person was doubtful at first, not having done something like this before. He placed one of his hands in Lee's head, making small circles in his fur. No animal had ever been this close to him before- was he harming him?

... the whining that came because he stopped stroking the pup's fur confirmed him that, in fact, he managed to pet a dog correctly. Score.

~

When he woke up, he didn't recognize where he was. Something was in his fangs, and he was tucked in a bed. The sun entered through the windows, being almost blinding to him. He coughed up, and purple petals escaped from his mouth. Lee couldn't recognize the flower but, their smell- it was soft and sweet. It made his heartbeat become faster, even if he couldn't understand why right now.

Lee felt warm, in a good way. In his chest, his face... something had happened from the lake to his home, something joyful. He knew it was something about the dryad- a gut feeling let him think he had shifted because something Neji said. The werewolf couldn't remember _what_ that was, but there was no harm in asking later.

He looked at the petals in his hand, smiled to himself, and stirred up to start the new day.

~

The coffee shop seemed small- but that's because only half of it was used as such. The other half was for their rooms and a special storage room. That's why the kitchen was big enough to share a meal in company of his dads. Lee thought it was odd that Neji never joined, but he assumed he ate before going to work.

"Hey pup", his Dad greeted him once he arrived to said room, his mask off. He didn't like to let others see his bare face, for a reason Lee didn't understand, but he was comfortable enough to not hide under it when the family was alone. 

"Hi Dad! Hi Papa!", Lee exclaimed, sitting in the table. He bounced his leg while waiting as patiently as he could for the food; it smelled like pancakes and coffee. "How did you sleep?"

"With my eye closed."

"Very well, my youthful son!", his Papa replied this time, smiling widely as he always did. It was something contagious to the youngest werewolf. "What about you? Neji told us you shifted by accident... are you okay?"

"Ah- yes! I'm perfectly fine!", Lee explained, looking at his hands. "I don't know what happened, but. It may be the hormones..."

"Oh, so you _do_ have a crush on him", Kakashi commented, scratching his chin. The black haired boy simply looked at his feet, stopping his leg bounces. "Gai, you owe me a massage."

"Kakashi! Don't embarrass our son!", the other werewolf argued, gently hitting his husband in the cheek, who just laughed at his reaction. Lee covered his face with his hands, already feeling his skin becoming warm.

"Is it... _that_ obvious?", he asked them, closing his eyes.

"Yep", both parents answered in unison, smiling at their pup. Lee felt his face growing hotter than before.

"Do you think I... have a chance with him?", he asked, finally managing to look at his dads again. His Papa gave him a thumbs up, and his Dad nodded.

"You're a handsome, polite young man! Of course you have a chance!", Gai replied, hugging him. 

"We still don't know much about dryads, though", Kakashi added, joining to the embrace. "Neji is very reserved. Try to be subtle, he'll get the clue if he wants to. Or maybe his uncle doesn't let him... it's a strange new culture here."

"Okay Dad! I'll try to be subtle then!", Lee promised, nodding with determination.

~

"What about drinking a coffee, you and I?", Lee said as soon as Neji and him had no clients to attend, showing his fangs in a wide smile. "Like a break! Together."

"Is this your way to ask someone out on a date?", Neji teased, smirking. "Coffee is too strong for me, you know. I cannot eat anything made from plants, you _know_ I get sick. It's _cannibalism_."

"We can share a bone then. I don't want to make your vines dry", the black haired added. "You look very well with them. It would be a shame if I ruin your beauty by accident..."

Neji went quiet, not knowing what to reply to him. He had been trying to flirt with him since he discovered dryads didn't got a blush, however he called it. The long-vined person could feel a soft weight in the end of his _'hair'_ , on the top of his head...

"Ah! You have flowers in your hair!", the werewolf noted, getting closer to him. He smelled his lilac petals and that just made more bloom. "They smell so well, and- oh! More appeared! Then the flower I found in my fangs was yours, right?"

"Shut up, Lee."

"Why are you... _blooming_ ?", Lee asked, not pushing away. Neji couldn't force himself to separate the boy from him; his carbon dioxide was good for his _'skin'_ , for the whole coffee shop. "Are you feeling okay...?"

"I'm perfectly fine", the dryad replied with a huff, crossing his arms. "Sometimes we... bloom. Not everyone has the same kind of flowers, either."

"Oh. _Oh_. I see! If you need to use the bathroom, I can take over for you", the black haired boy concluded with a shy smile, placing a hand in his shoulder. "I won't get mad."

"What? Why would I need to use the bathroom?"

Lee looked at the ground, scratching his head. His face was pink.

"Well, I- I thought it was like a period..."

"I can be counted as a plant in books, Lee. I don't need to use the bathroom."

"Then why are you growing flowers out of sudden?", the werewolf asked, tilting his head to a side.

"Why do you blush?", Neji asked instead of replying.

"Huh? Well... I blush when I'm embarrassed."

"Exactly", Neji answered, not adding anything as he left the room. He could see the werewolf with an o-shape in his mouth as he went outside of the coffee shop, relaxing for a couple of minutes as no more clients came for the moment. 

He closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth of the sunlight in silence, letting his flowers close again as the wind moved his vines. The breeze carried a small amount of coldness, annoying but bearable. He inhaled deeply, helping the air humidity in reaching his whole body. That's why he supposed he didn't have nostrils. Probably.

He didn't really care until Lee pointed it out, asking him how he breathed. His life was strange since the pack of three werewolves arrived to the forest, but... he couldn't deny that he had grown fond of them over the couple of months he was spying them. He could even call Lee his friend.

... couldn't say the same about any of the other dryads. Maybe being assigned with this task, instead of cultivation, was the only good thing his uncle ever did for him since his father withered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to make it longer but I just couldn't connect the parts together :p so it'll go for the third chapter  
> Enjoy!

The caves had always been full of life. Of the shine of the crystals and minerals that were there– some were left on purpose, illuminating the labyrinth-like paths of the mines. Every ore you could name was found there. It was like magic, but well... the whole forest was known for it. Always had been.

The elves were the creatures that collected materials from there. They could see in the dark, and their hands were always delicate yet strong enough to move gigantic boulders out of the way. They were the only ones with enough power to do so in the whole woods, more when they all worked together.

Now, a satyr was trotting to the caves, in search of iron to repair a broken dagger. It helped with foraging fiber and wood for his Tribe, and he was one of the best gatherers. He couldn't work without his dagger.

'What a drag...' the creature thought, sighing, as darkness wrapped his body and gaze. He adjusted quickly and hopped to the central cave, even if something weird got stuck on one of his hooves– making him fall to the ground.

He checked his leg, finding a giant petal of sorts on his fur. On the ground, where his other hand was resting, more of these obsidian petals were scattered.

The satyr observed it with attention– it was hard to the touch. All of them were, and were like a trace of something bigger than him.

... the hissing of a snake was vibrating on the stone walls, making his bones shake. It echoed and echoed, apparently coming from deeper into the darkest mines.

The newcomer was going to simply ignore it, continue his trek.

But after the hissing, the screams came. All at the same time, mixing up as one– how was he supposed to get the ores now? With this... plague?

The satyr decided to be cautious and safe, turn back. Yet his body told him to go, investigate– he was curious as his humanoid part, fearful as his deer self.

He climbed the closest rock, to check better what was going on. A faint purple glow was almost covered by a giant snake, who was moving between scarily realistic statues. Why, exactly, they were so big was a mystery until an elf ran into it. 

And screamed, as her body slowly turned into the darkest stone the satyr had ever seen. The statues– they were all elves. 

Petrified, like the visitor was at the newfound information.

... he ran as fast as his deer legs could, outrunning the giant snake as much as he could. Returned to the safety of eucalyptus and pines, with the obsidian 'petal' on his hands.

That day had been the day the elves went extinct, and a satyr was the only survivor of the elven massacre.

All of this happened under the weakened sunlight of the Autumn, as if the perpetrator wasn't scared of their crimes being revealed.

~

Kilometers away, unaware of what had happened, a young elf was drinking rainfruit juice. A routine that had saved her by accident, even if she knew she shouldn't have stopped forging just to relax. it was not time for her break. 

But she didn't have any friend in her birthplace. So she was not... eager, to stay for longer than needed– that was why she always showed up with weapons and jewels at the coffee shop, where her werewolf friend lived.

"Tenten, did you enjoy your meal?"

And there he was now, a fanged smile directed to her as they shared the gossip of the woods. Lee knew a lot as a result of working in a public place, and Tenten had good ears; they would have made a great information-gathering combo, had they been born as ninjas or something silly like that.

"It's my favorite! I loved it. Did you use goat cheese in the sandwiches this time? It tastes better this way", the elf said, smiling back.

She could see the quiet dryad staring at her, most likely being jealous. He had never been seen talking to someone who wasn't the cheerful werewolf–at least while she was there–, so that made sense.

'He doesn't have pupils... it's a bit scary', Tenten thought, but didn't pay much attention to him.

The leader of the dryads was a cold one. He had never allowed his companions to interact with other species that weren't the kitsunes, until now– maybe it was the reason the coffee shop's dryad didn't talk to her at all. 

She heard that the punishments of broken laws were severe in their realm. Their leader was cynical, and had killed his own brother without mercy, turning him to a magicless sapling– he had 'withered him', as the dryads said.

... Tenten quietly wondered why none of them said anything, why they just obeyed. But it was not her place to investigate further, and so, she just relaxed without analyzing it more.

It was not her place to do so. If the dryads were masochists, good for them. They would ask for help if they needed it.

The elf had been in her thoughts, distant from the present as she talked absently with Lee. He didn't mind or notice, giving her a smile that showed his fangs.

It usually was a calm place. That was why Tenten visited it often... Though, that day, the peace had been shattered by a nervous sphynx entering with a yowl.

"There's a basilisk in the mines!" he roared, his normally closed eyes now opened with fear. His gaze stopped on Tenten and he gasped. "The other elves, they- they're petrified!"

The atmosphere became tense with that, everyone looking at the winged feline with both surprise and fear. The older werewolves immediately got out of the kitchen, their eyes analysing the newcomer as if not trusting him- as if he was lying, even if there was a slight chance that what he said was the truth.

Tenten was the most confused out of the present people. She had seen her kind be alive when she had gone for a drink, and now, the big cat was claiming that they were not.

Had it been anyone else, she would have laughed at his cruel joke. But a sphinx has to always say the truth, or they would perish by guilt– that was the only reason her cup fell from her hands, that she didn't get mad at him.

Because there was no malice in the face of that feline. He was as scared as everyone in the coffee shop was, at hearing that the most powerful predator of the forest had woken up from his long sleep.

Nobody knew why that had happened, either. The only ones that may have known had become stone, based on what the sphinx said.

His species just said the truth, but he may had heard it from someone... and, that way, a lie would become truth.

"I... I have to check," Tenten said, her gaze not focused on anything at all. Getting up from her chair, making slow steps to the exit.

"But, the basilisk! It will eat you!" the visitor meowed, his tail moving anxiously to the sides. "Shikamaru wanted to repair his dagger, and everyone was dead! You can't go!"

"Your friend may have lied. I have to see by myself if they are still there, or not," the elf argued, playing with her earrings as she talked. "And even if the basilisk is still there... I have to see."

She then went outside, and the coffee shop fell silent. 

**Author's Note:**

> Kakashi and Gai are written in a way that the reader picks which of them is trans/intersex. They're Lee's bio dads and Lee got two names and two surnames because double surnames are an actual thing in Argentina.(I have two names and two surnames, for example)  
> (Rock Lee Maito Hatake) Long but mine is long too, lol  
> This is the 'branch thing' Lee wanted to do: https://youtu.be/Uv8JlaZgdOU (video is in Spanish but you don't need to understand the language to see why it's so magical!)


End file.
